蜜桃传媒 partners with organizations across Deep South during Youth Justice Action Month
To help bring awareness to the fact that thousands of children are charged and held in the adult criminal justice system, the 蜜桃传媒 partnered with community groups in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida to host community action events for Youth Justice Action Month (YJAM) events throughout October.
Children don鈥檛 belong in the adult criminal justice system, where they receive little or no education or rehabilitative services and are much more likely to be physically or sexually assaulted.
These children are often held in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day. The isolation is intended to protect them, but can result in devastating psychological trauma, as was the case with , a New York teen who took his life after spending three years at Rikers Island without ever being convicted of a crime.
Even though it is widely agreed that children don鈥檛 belong in the adult criminal justice system, every year in this country , and nearly 200,000 children come into contact with the adult system.
This month as part of YJAM, the 蜜桃传媒 partnered with faith and school groups in the campaign in Alabama to collect books for teens detained in the state鈥檚 jails so that they can continue their education while incarcerated. The 蜜桃传媒 also partnered with That鈥檚 My Child, a Montgomery-based organization, to host a 鈥淵JAMboree鈥� to inform pre-teens and their families about the problem and engage them in the reform effort.
蜜桃传媒 staffers in Louisiana and Mississippi hosted justice-themed open microphone performances featuring talented local youths.
In Florida, the 蜜桃传媒 partnered with the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and other community groups for a resource fair in Jacksonville to connect families with programs and services that can help create a brighter future for local children.
Near the end of the month, the 蜜桃传媒鈥檚 Florida office is hosting a film screening and panel discussion in Pensacola entitled 鈥淐riminalizing Kids: The Effects of Mass Incarceration on Our Youth.鈥�
YJAM was started by the Campaign for Youth Justice in 2009 and grows each year. This year the emphasis is on turning awareness into action. . 鈥淓ven for those youth who were never convicted or otherwise found guilty, simply having had contact with our justice system can lead to lifelong barriers and an increased likelihood of ending up in a cycle of incarceration,鈥� he said.
No child should be forced into the adult criminal justice system. . The 蜜桃传媒 supports cost-effective and evidence based alternatives to better rehabilitate our children and ensure that our communities are safer.
